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Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodríguez visited Macuto, La Guaira state, yesterday to assess the level of damage and observe search and rescue efforts, according to local media.

She announced the imminent arrival of international aid, with the aim of bolstering the efforts of the country’s emergency services.

“We have requested international aid, and support from our sister nations will begin to arrive in the coming hours. Our best wishes, all our hopes and prayers are focused on the lives of Venezuelans,” she said.

A senior American military official has arrived in Venezuela’s capital Caracas to oversee US relief efforts, the US Southern Command (Southcom), whose area of responsibility covers Latin America and the Caribbean, said.

US Marine Corps Maj Gen Kevin Jarrard is serving as the senior Southcom official on the ground to coordinate relief operations with local teams, Southcom said in a post on X.

Opening summary

Rescue workers and residents in cities across northern Venezuela continue to dig through rubble in a frantic search for survivors, more than a day after the country was hit with the most powerful earthquake in over a century.

At least 235 people have been killed, but authorities fear the death toll could rise significantly, with thousands reported missing. More than 4,000 people were injured in the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes that struck less than 40 seconds apart on Wednesday evening in the northern states near the capital, Caracas.

The coastal region of La Guaira, where the country’s main airport is located, suffered some of the heaviest damage and casualties, as rows of towering apartment blocks were reduced to rubble while people desperately searched for missing loved ones.

The UN’s humanitarian agency, Ocha, reported more than 100 buildings had collapsed in the La Guaira region alone, including a large block of flats called the Ritasol Palace and the seafront Eduard’s Hotel.

The acting president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, declared a state of emergency in an address to the nation. She said the government was creating a $200m reconstruction fund for damaged hospitals and homes.

She appealed to businesses to make heavy construction equipment available for rescue operations.

“We hope to rescue as many living people as possible,” she said.

Dramatic scenes unfolded on Thursday of people being pulled out of rubble covered in dust and blood, but few government rescue teams were initially seen outside Caracas, according to reports.

Yamileth Jimenez, from La Guaira city, said her 19-year-old son was still trapped in the debris of their seven-story apartment building.

“He’s under the slabs and there’s no machinery to get him out,” ‌Jimenez told Reuters.

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said the defence department would help search and rescue teams deploy to the affected region after the Simón Bolívar international airport was closed due to damage, complicating aid efforts.

He said the immediate priority was search and rescue. “They have [lots of] collapsed buildings and so they will need a lot of help in terms of digging through that,” Rubio told reporters, adding that the next 72 “golden” hours were critical.

You can read this morning’s full report here:

Updated